## Judge Bias in Labor Courts and Firm Performance

_IMF Working Papers, February 12, 2021_

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**Canonical URL:** [Judge Bias in Labor Courts and Firm Performance](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2021/02/12/judge-bias-in-labor-courts-and-firm-performance-50061)

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Pierre Cahuc, Stéphane Carcillo, Berengere Patault, Flavien Moreau
- Published: February 12, 2021
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513569383.001

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### Summary and research question
- Research question: Does labor court uncertainty and judge subjectivity influence firms’ performance?
- Data: information on more than 145,000 Appeal court rulings combined with administrative firm-level records covering the whole universe of French firms.
- Identification: quasi-random assignment of judges to cases.

### Key findings
- Judge bias has statistically significant effects on the survival, employment, and sales of small low-performing firms.
- The uncertainty associated with the actual dispersion of judge bias is small and has a non-significant impact on their average outcomes.

### Methods and scope
- Sample: more than 145,000 Appeal court rulings; administrative firm-level records covering the whole universe of French firms.
- Identification strategy: quasi-random assignment of judges to cases, enabling measurement of judge-level bias and its effects on firm outcomes.

### Subjects and keywords
- Subject: Economic and financial statistics; Employment; Labor; Return on investment; Wages
- Keywords: appeal court rulings database; Dismissal compensation; firm survival; firm's employment; judge bias; judge level; pro-worker bias; WP

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- **Working Paper**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2021/02/12/judge-bias-in-labor-courts-and-firm-performance-50061_